5K Walk Run

Today at work we had a 5K Walk Run. I ran it in just under 23 minutes. I was shocked at my time since my goal was 27 minutes (approx 9 minute miles). I placed about 20th overall which I didn't think was to bad. I didn't know what to expect since I haven't run a race since 9th grade. On a normal run I don't push myself at all. Even though I said I wasn't going to let other runners effect my time I totally caved after the race started. I used the first half mile to warm up and then started eyeing people in front of me to catch. I didn't get passed after that. Towards the end I swapped positions with this guy, after passing him he must have thought "I can take this guy" then ran past me. I let him go for about 30 seconds and then blew past him. Before I knew it Chad was waiting about 100 yards from the finish. I had no clue the finish was that close since we ran past it a couple times already, so I sprinted the last 100 yards passing about 10 people in the process. Chad placed 10th overall and 3rd in his age group with a time of 17 minutes, Joe placed in the top 20 and 5th in the 30-39 age group with a time of 21.

This was a great experience to get before the Rock-n-Roll marathon coming up. I know that no matter how hard I try not to let it, other runners will affect my pace so I'll have to take that into account so I don't die at the end of the race.